Japan cuts funds for international organizations

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA - Japan is using financial means to pressure certain international organizations to what it says “improve their operations”, local media reported.

According to Mainichi daily, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has cut its share in voluntary funds to international organizations after they released “information unfavorable to Japan”.

The report said Japan has reduced its funds by 20% since 2015 to 28.4 billion yen ($256 million) in the initial budget for fiscal 2019.

The move comes after Japan launched a system in 2015 to “evaluate its voluntary contributions to international bodies with a view to reducing expenses”.

“It’s [system’s] condition for making contributions was that they should be useful to Japan,” the daily said.

“28.4 billion yen [$256 million] in the initial budget for fiscal 2019 is 2.6% below the amount for fiscal 2018,” it added.

On March 24, Japan had told the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) that a UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur was “unilaterally expressing opinions” about Japan under the banner of the United Nations.

The reservation made by Japan referred to May 2017 statement by Joseph Cannataci, UN special rapporteur on the right to privacy.

“Cannataci [had] stated that a bill to amend Japan's Act on Punishment of Organized Crimes and Control of Crime Proceeds, also known as the ‘anti-conspiracy bill’, which was being debated in the Japanese Diet at the time, could lead to ‘undue restrictions to the rights of privacy’ if adopted,” according to the daily.

However, the OHCHR had responded that special rapporteurs acted as “individuals”, based on their own qualifications.

Japan argued that “even opposition legislators in Japan's Parliament criticized the letter”.

On March 8, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told the House of Representative Committee on Foreign Affairs, "We will modulate (our contributions), making drastic cuts in areas where there is a need to do so, and even consider pulling out."

Upping its ante, Japan has cut down its voluntary contributions to the OHCHR to 7.15 million yen -- about 45% below the amount in the initial budget for the previous fiscal year, the daily said.

It also reduced its contributions to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to approximately 295 million yen ($2.66 million) -- down by about 5 million yen ($45,095).

“The move came after UNESCO in 2015 listed documents relating to the Nanjing Massacre in its Memory of the World Register,” the Mainichi said.